77 arrested, 149 cases solved

BANGALORE: With the arrest of 77 accused, the North East Division police have cracked 149 cases in operations conducted in the last one-and-a-half months. Seven kilograms stolen of gold jewels worth Rs 1.86 crore, 36 four-wheelers worth Rs 1.42 crore and other goods have been recovered.The Sampigehalli police have arrested two persons, who allegedly created fake credit cards, based on stolen data from bank websites and duped the actual card holders. The police have also recovered 5.5 kilograms of gold ornaments, electronic and other goods worth over Rs 2 crore from them.Explaining the modus operandi, the police said that the duo allegedly hacked websites of various banks and stole security data of genuine credit cards. Based on that they created fake cards and used them to purchase gold ornaments, electronic gadgets and other  valuable goods. “They were fond of imported liquors and used to buy them using fake cards, thereby causing a huge loss to the actual card holder. They also got money by pledging the jewels at gold finance companies. The sole motive behind this was to lead a luxurious life,” the police added.“Even the banks are unaware of their websites being hacked. But we will contact the cyber crime police to know about the complaints registered in connection with credit card cheating,” the police added. The police said that a person in Malaysia is also part of the network and he provided most of the security data, to a person in Chennai and they handled the operations here through the arrested duo. Meanwhile, it was also revealed that their gang members are operating across the country. Due to this, the police have also decided to exchange information with the Malaysian police.Punching machines, reader, lamination, gold and silver foils, logos of various banks, laptops, empty credit cards that were used in making the cards have also been seized from them.The accused have been identified as Jaikumar alias Shyamveil alias Shyam (39) of Kengeri and Wasim alias Wasim Pasha (25) of Mysore Road. Six of their associates are absconding and  search operations are on to nab the accused criminal duo. Accused Jaikumar was allegedly involved in similar cheating cases in the past and the cases are still being probed by the sleuths of the Central Crime Branch of the city and Chennai. Further investigations are going on in connection with the accused and their earlier records.